aws
356 articles on aws — what drives the cost, how it is priced, and where the savings actually are.
Transit Gateway inter-region peering cost: connecting regions the expensive way
Transit Gateway inter-region peering lets you link regions through the AWS backbone, but you pay per-GB data processing on each side plus cross-region data transfer. For high-volume inter-region traffic the fees stack. Here is the cost breakdown.
Direct Connect data transfer savings: when the dedicated line pays off
Direct Connect adds port fees but slashes data transfer out to about $0.02 per GB versus $0.09 over the internet. For heavy, steady egress to your data center the savings can dwarf the port cost. Here is the break-even math.
Global Accelerator vs CloudFront cost: two edge services, two bills
Global Accelerator charges a fixed $0.025 per hour plus a per-GB premium, while CloudFront has no fixed fee and bills per GB and per request. They solve different problems, and picking the wrong one wastes money. Here is the cost comparison.
VPC Flow Logs cost: the free feature with a delivery bill
VPC Flow Logs are free to enable, but you pay to deliver them: about $0.50 per GB to CloudWatch Logs or less to S3. On a busy VPC that ingestion cost can surprise you. Here is how flow log pricing actually works.
CloudTrail data events cost: why S3 and Lambda logging gets expensive
CloudTrail management events are largely free, but data events cost $0.10 per 100,000 events, and high-volume S3 or Lambda logging can generate billions of them. Here is how data event pricing works and how to keep it in check.
Public IPv4 address cost: the charge AWS added to every address
AWS now charges about $0.005 per hour for every public IPv4 address, in use or idle, adding roughly $3.65 per month per address. For fleets with hundreds of public IPs the total is real. Here is how the charge works and how to cut it.
SSM Parameter Store cost explained: free standard vs paid advanced
SSM Parameter Store standard parameters are free, while advanced parameters cost $0.05 each per month and higher-throughput API calls carry a fee. Knowing when you actually need advanced tier saves money over Secrets Manager. Here is the pricing.
Private IP vs public IP data transfer cost: the free path you might be missing
Traffic between resources over private IPs in the same AZ is free, but the same traffic over public or Elastic IPs is charged even within a region. Using the wrong address turns free traffic into a per-GB bill. Here is how to keep it free.
AWS Organizations billing structure: accounts, OUs, and cost clarity
How you structure AWS accounts and organizational units decides how clearly you can see and control cost. A good multi-account layout gives allocation for free; a flat single account fights you forever. Here is how to design it.
Building a cost data pipeline on the AWS CUR
The AWS Cost and Usage Report is the most detailed billing data AWS produces, but it is raw and huge. Turning it into queryable, allocated cost data is a pipeline worth building. Here is the architecture.
Four ways to buy EC2 compared: on-demand, reserved, savings plans, and spot
On-demand, reserved instances, savings plans, and spot are four ways to pay for the same EC2 capacity, with discounts from zero to around 90 percent and very different commitments. Which mix is cheapest depends on how predictable and interruptible your workload is. Here is the side-by-side.
AWS vs GCP for Kubernetes cost: EKS or GKE for your cluster?
EKS and GKE both charge a control-plane fee and node compute, but their pricing details, autopilot options, and free-tier treatment differ enough to matter. Which cloud is cheaper for Kubernetes depends on cluster count and how you run nodes. Here is the comparison.
AWS vs Azure for Windows workloads cost: where licensing tips the scales
Windows Server and SQL Server licensing can dominate the cost of a Windows workload, and Azure's Hybrid Benefit lets you reuse existing licenses in ways that change the math versus AWS. Which cloud is cheaper depends on the licenses you already own. Here is the comparison.
DynamoDB on-demand vs provisioned: which costs less
DynamoDB bills two ways: on-demand (pay per request, zero planning) and provisioned (pay for reserved capacity, cheaper at steady load). The right choice hinges on how predictable and spiky your traffic is. Here is how to decide.
EBS gp2 vs gp3: why gp3 is almost always cheaper
gp3 is the newer general-purpose EBS volume type, and for most workloads it costs about 20 percent less than gp2 while delivering baseline performance that gp2 could only reach at large sizes. Here is why, and when to migrate.
EBS io2 vs gp3: paying for guaranteed IOPS
io2 and io2 Block Express are the high-end EBS volume types built for demanding databases, with high durability and very high provisioned IOPS. gp3 covers most needs far more cheaply. Here is when io2's premium is worth it.
EBS snapshot cost creep: the storage bill that never stops growing
EBS snapshots are cheap individually but accumulate silently: automated backups, forgotten manual snapshots, and orphaned volumes pile up until snapshot storage rivals or exceeds your live volume cost. Here is how to find and stop the creep.
EC2 burstable instances (T-family): cheap until you burst
T-family burstable instances (t3, t4g) are the cheapest EC2 option for low-average-CPU workloads, using a CPU credit system. Understand credits and unlimited mode or you will get throttled or hit with surprise charges. Here is how they cost out.
EC2 Dedicated Hosts vs instances: when isolation is worth the cost
Dedicated Hosts give you a whole physical server, needed for BYOL licensing and hard isolation, but priced per host regardless of how full it is. Regular instances (and dedicated instances) are cheaper for almost everything else. Here is the cost tradeoff.
EC2 instance families explained: matching workload to hardware
EC2 offers dozens of instance families (general purpose, compute, memory, storage, and accelerated) each tuned to a resource profile. Picking the right family for your workload is the first and biggest cost lever. Here is how they map.
EC2 pricing explained: how the per-hour rate is built
An EC2 instance's price combines family and size, region, purchase model (on-demand, Spot, or commitment), operating system licensing, and attached resources. Understanding each component is how you control the largest line on most AWS bills. Here is the full breakdown.
EFS vs EBS cost: shared file storage vs attached block storage
EBS is block storage attached to one instance; EFS is a shared file system many instances mount at once. EFS costs more per GB but removes provisioning and scaling overhead. Here is how to choose on cost and fit.
Egress cost reduction checklist: cutting the data transfer bill
Data egress (traffic leaving AWS to the internet, and between regions and AZs) is one of the most surprising and controllable line items. This checklist walks through the highest-impact ways to cut it, from CDN caching to architecture.
EKS Fargate vs EC2 nodes: which is cheaper for your cluster
On EKS you can run pods on EC2 nodes you manage or on Fargate serverless capacity. Fargate removes node management and bills per pod, EC2 nodes are cheaper per unit but require you to run and pack them. Here is the cost tradeoff.